GE Healthcare cancer campaign combines social media and gaming

GE Healthcare has launched a new global awareness campaign that uses 'gamification' and social media to promote cancer prevention through healthier lifestyles.

At the heart of the Get Fit campaign is a six-week competition that will see users of Twitter, Facebook and Chinese micro-blogging site Sina Weibo collect points by tracking their progress against specific health challenges or by posting comments about healthier lifestyles.

John Dineen, president and CEO of GE Healthcare, said: “Prevention and active participation in our own better health are the first steps in improving health outcomes.

“Leveraging the power of gaming and social networks to encourage lifestyles that can help prevent cancer isn't just a good idea – it's part of our original healthymagination commitment to bring actionable health content to consumers and our employees.”

GE markets a range of cancer screening and imaging tools and has committed $1bn to its healthcare research budget to 2020, expanding in areas such as cancer diagnostic and molecular screening.

The company hopes its new campaign will encourage people from around the world to “share their own health and fitness activities and what they are doing to help reduce their likelihood of developing cancer”.

The campaign is clearly positioned to be as global as possible, using not just Twitter and Facebook but also the leading Chinese microblogging platform Sina Weibo.

Sina Weibo currently has around 300m users in China, where public use of Twitter remains blocked, compared with global user figures of some 500m for Twitter and 955m for Facebook

GE's campaign will also use the company's new HealthyShare Facebook tool, which allows people to share and track their health goals and will feature a 'challenge of the week'.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 30 per cent of cancers are preventable through a healthy lifestyle and regular exercise. Now in its second year, GE”s Get Fit campaign aims to encourage participants to lead healthier lifestyles.

Participants will compete against one another while accumulating 'healthy' points and badges and, at the close of the six-week challenge, on September 28, the player and the team with the most points will be crowned Get Fit champions.